Users Fed up with Mobile Spam

Results of a GfK NOP survey commissioned by Pontis, a provider of Marketing Delivery Platforms, amongst 752 mobile phone users in the UK reveals a deep dissatisfaction amongst the public with the way that mobile service providers are currently marketing their voice and data services. 70% of mobile phone users consider the marketing offers they receive not to be relevant to them and 64% of these confess to being annoyed by them. Just 11% of those surveyed had ever purchased an item, or signed up for a special promotion or bundle as a result of an online promotion or offer from their mobile service provider.

The survey highlights how mobile operators are failing to capture the imagination of the baby boomer generation, with 75% of 45-54 year olds and 78% of 55-64 year olds viewing the marketing offers they receive as irrelevant to them. Surprisingly though, even teenagers and young adult are less than enamoured with the ability of the operators to promote services which might interest them: 57% of them feel that the services they are offered today are irrelevant. Of all the respondents, this age group also declared itself to be the most irritated by receiving marketing spam, with a whopping 72% of 25-34 year olds who do not find offers relevant claiming to be annoyed by this practice. However, within this same age group 47% of all mobile users are also willing to change operators to one that can provide them with marketing offers and services more tailored to their lifestyles.

Guy Talmi, senior marketing director at Pontis said, “These results are proof of the fact that the mass marketing approach most operators still take today is not working. The findings represent both good and bad news for the service provider community: on one hand it shows that their inability to tailor services and content to the individual user’s interests and situation is not only failing to attract new revenue streams but – even worse – it’s alienating their customer base. On the other hand, it clearly points to a major opportunity for those operators who can harness vital information about a user’s interests and behaviour and offer them relevant services at the right time,, as a large number of users would be willing to change suppliers for just such a service.”

Emma Mohr-McClune principal analyst for wireless services at industry analyst Current Analysis comments,, “”We can’t keep burying our head in the sands on this issue. Today’s spam-weary consumer is heartily sick of poorly-aimed and irrelevant campaigning. The ‘one size fits all’ promotion model is outdated. This report flags up a growing need for better tailored and personalised campaign techniques, and a higher level of commitment to customer micro-segmentation going forward.”